


Big Brother

by genop0ke



Series: Willow Falls [3]
Category: No Fandom, Willow Falls
Genre: Dystopia, Other, Utopia, Willow Falls - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-04
Updated: 2015-09-09
Packaged: 2018-04-02 18:49:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4070713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genop0ke/pseuds/genop0ke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As the fact that the twins Adonis and Ib Megalos are immune to the aerial drug Purity is found out, their lives are turned completely upside down.</p><p>This is in the same universe as Willow Falls, it just focuses on a different location.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. They're Immune

 “What do you _mean_ , my children aren’t Pure anymore? They can’t go to Superbia.” A man with ruffled black hair demanded, his dark blue eyes full of worry. He was tall, at least 6’6” in height, wearing a white coat and a long scarf. With one stiff hand he pushed his rectangular glasses up higher on his nose, shaking with a mix of fear for his children and anger to the people that had come to him. “They’ve done nothing wrong, you can’t do this. They’re all I have left, since Brenice died!”

 “Oh, that’s too _bad_ , Phyllis--”

 “Megalos. It’s Megalos, Crane. I had my name changed for Frank’s sake.”

 The other chuckled, a warped smile coming onto his face. He had messy, dark hair, with an ornate eye patch covering his left eye. The other was a blank gray color, having a soulless, amused look in it. A scar crossed over the space around the eye patch, stitched firmly closed. He wore a coat with black and red on it, and the insignia of where he worked: a white flame-looking logo with the word ‘H.E.A.T.’ printed beneath it in the same color. “Mheheheh. I don’t care, _Phyllis_. Your children have the genes that makes Purity not work on them, what if they rebel? You have three days to do something about that, or it’s off to Superbia for them.”

 The other man sent a glare at the man with the eye patch as he turned around and left with his hands in his pockets, laughing to himself. _That man is insane._  he thought, pressing the button inside the door frame to close his front door. _Why did they let him of all people be the CEO of HEAT, let alone be in charge of this place?_

* * *

 Today was off to a good start. Ib and I were-- wait, do you even know us yet? I’m Adonis Megalos, and my twin sister is named Ib. I guess you could use a visual on us, too? I have messy, kind of long brown hair, that curls a little into my green eyes. Think of the colors like the color of milk chocolate, and the leaves on trees in the summer. Those kinds of colors. Today I’m wearing a kind of weird outfit, considering that I can admit my sense of fashion is stranger than a clown’s. It’s an oversized white shirt with black stripes, as in the sleeves hang off my hands like that one Jatta kid from the game about dangling grandpas. Over that is a weird brown vest, and some casual red jeans to top it off. Don’t look at me like that, it’s fashion.

 Anyway, Ib and I were sitting in the kitchen, eating some toast. I like my toast with too much butter, she just lathers on like half an inch of strawberry jelly on the whole thing. Her hair was more like the color of caramel, pulled into two thick, long braids. The back of her head was covered with a green knit cap with a yellow ribbon tied into a bow on it. Her eyes were the same color as mine, though her skin was lighter - we both had olive skin, being half-Greek. She wore a shirt similar to mine, except cream colored with wide, navy blue stripes, and a wide collar and shorter sleeves. She also had on camo pants.

“Who was that at the door, dad?” Ib asked. Our father was a scientist working for a big place called HEAT. I try to ask him what the acronym means, but he never tells me. Just that the T stands for Technology. That place was in charge of making almost everything in Levis - the nation we live in - technology-wise. High-tech prosthetics, security systems, androids that help out people who need it, so many things! Dad was in charge of the team that made sure that each model of the security systems were foolproof. HEAT also distributed a chemical known as Purity required to be circulated throughout all of Levis, though Ib and I didn’t really see the point. It’s just a chemical, what gives? People act like robots when there’s a lot of it in the air. Anyways, my dad’s name is Gus. It’s just Gus, not short for anything.

 “...nobody. It was nobody, kids, don’t worry.” Dad answered, looking very upset and tugging at his scarf, loosening it around his neck. Whenever he was upset he would tug at his scarf a lot. He wears that big scarf so much because he has a nasty-looking scar there on his neck, all stitched up over his throat. It makes him feel self-conscious and act weird if people talk about it, so most people are wise enough to ignore it if it’s visible. Most.

  I decided to be brave and ask some more about it. “Was it that Crane guy again? I heard you say his name and something about mom.” Crane’s full name was Dr. Alistair Crane, and from what I heard about him from dad, he was an asshole. Don’t look at me like that, Ib and I are like fifteen, we’re old enough to know when someone’s an asshole. And our mom… she died giving birth to us. From seeing her in pictures, she was a beautiful woman. Brenice Stills. She had golden hair always made into a loose braid hanging over her shoulder, and pale brown eyes. She was a free spirit. Sometimes Ib and I feel kind of guilty that we were ever born because she died putting us into the world, but dad says not to be. It’s not our fault.

 “...yes. It was. What he said doesn’t matter, though. It’s not a problem. Daddy’s gonna fix everything.”

 “Fix what?” Ib remarked, a frown coming onto her face. She finished off her toast, licking a smudge of strawberry jam off the side of her mouth and wiping her face with a napkin. I happened to do the same thing after finishing my own toast. Even though we were pretty different, but we were still twins. We still sometimes had moments of duality. Funnily enough, our birthday is May 31st. That makes us both have Gemini as our sign.

 Dad sighed and went into the living room, sitting down in a chair with a huff. “...it doesn’t matter, kids. We’ll get through this.” At that, he leaned back, dozing for a while. Even though he had just woken up at the same time we did and downed at least two full mugs of coffee, he was still tired. We let him take his little naps, though. He uses up a lot of energy at work.

 With a smile to each other, Ib and I went outside to head to another uneventful day of school. The schools seemed to be especially thick in the air with Purity, which had a somewhat sweet, strawberry-like smell to it, so students acted like zombies, never acting up. We had to play along, since not being affected by the stuff was treated like a crime, or some kind of debilitating mental illness. It wasn’t fair.

 Oh well. Here’s to another boring day, huh?

* * *

 “Are the preparations ready?” A tall woman with a stoic outlook and black hair remarked. Her hair was pulled back into a long braid, with some of her hair loose and hanging into her eyes like bangs. She had piercing brown eyes behind rectangularly-framed glasses, and a stitched scar crossed over her nose bridge. Much like the others around her, she wore a white lab coat. Underneath she wore a pastel blue dress shirt with no tie, and black work pants. She looked over at another man barely below her height expectantly, waiting for an answer.

 This man she was looking to was Italian, with a previously brown, shaggy undercut bleached to be a pale blond color. He had blue-green eyes, the right one being covered by a medical eyepatch. His coat was buttoned shut halfway down, sitting over a light pink turtleneck. He had a small soul patch on his chin, and a silver earring hanging from his left earlobe. A curt nod was shown by the sudden jerking gesture of his head. “Yes. All we need now is a subject.”

 “Gᴜs's ᴋɪᴅs sᴇᴇᴍ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴀ ɢᴏᴏᴅ sᴛᴀʀᴛ. Tʜᴇʏ'ʀᴇ ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ʙʀᴀᴛs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴀʀᴇɴ'ᴛ ᴀғғᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ ʙʏ Pᴜʀɪᴛʏ, ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴡᴏɴ'ᴛ ʙᴇ Lᴜᴍɴɪᴀɴs ғᴏʀ ʟᴏɴɢ, sᴏ ɪᴛ's ᴘʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴄᴀʟʟʏ ʟᴇɢᴀʟ!” A body was visible on a long, vertical screen. A pale-skinned girl with a black bodysuit, marked by glowing, red, TRON-esque lines. Black headphones with red accents and cat ear-shaped bits on the band sat on her head. She was a corrupt AI, meant to be scrapped. Originally made to be an advanced security system, she now spied on people and stole data. “Yᴏᴜ ɴᴇᴇᴅ sᴏᴍᴇᴏɴᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛᴇsᴛ ᴛʜᴀᴛ “sᴇʀᴜᴍ” ᴏɴ, ʀɪɢʜᴛ?”

 The man looked over at the AI, a grin coming onto his face. “...right. Yeah. You mean the crappy thing I snatched from Frank? Sure. That’s just an excuse to experiment on a couple of teens, you know? But yeah… the Megalos kids. Hate those little brats almost as much as I hate Gus himself.” He cackled a little, eager to do something that was potentially extremely illegal.

 “Blake, settle down. We’re not doing this just yet.” The woman sighed.

 Blake protested, frowning. “Aw, why, Keira?”

 “They’re still in Lumnia. We have to wait.”

 “..ugh. Fine.”


	2. Always Watching

 “…are you sure that this is a good idea, Tyrant?” A young man, no older than maybe seventeen, asked, pushing his glasses higher up on his nose. He wore a pale blue lab coat with the HEAT logo on its breast, and a darker blue turtleneck beneath it. A white tie hung loosely around his neck, tied into a basic knot. His hands were covered by black gloves that seemed just barely too small. There wasn’t anyone else in his office, and all the screens in the room just had a wavy blue screensaver on them.

 “YES. I AM ONE HUNDRED PERCENT SURE, LEE. AUTARCH RECOMMENDED IT TO ME, AFTER ALL.” The man spoke again, but his voice had a harsher, more mechanical tone. He seemed to be literally talking to himself.

 Lee went silent for a moment, deep in thought. Was it really a good idea to..? Well… Autarch was the one in control of Levis, an artificial, all-knowing patriarch. An autarch. A ruler with absolute power. He was about to speak again when all the screens in the room changed. There was a figure in a dark red, pinstriped suit, with glowing red circuit lines on the suit. This figure had a shadowy head with one visible white orb representing a left eye, and a thin, serious frown. More red lines went up the sides of his neck and up his ‘cheeks’. His inhuman, dominant glare covered every digital surface in the area.

 “…A-Autarch! We-- we were just talking about your… request.” The young scientist yelped, horribly startled and a bit frightened, to say the least.

 A metallic huff came from the AI on the screens as his eye narrowed. “I sʜᴏᴜʟᴅ ʜᴏᴘᴇ sᴏ. I ᴇxᴘᴇᴄᴛ ɪᴛ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇᴅ ᴀs sᴡɪғᴛʟʏ ᴀs sɪᴍɪʟᴀʀ ᴘʀᴏᴊᴇᴄᴛs ᴏғ ʏᴏᴜʀs ᴀʀᴇ. Iғ ɪᴛ ɪs ᴇᴠᴇɴ ᴏɴᴇ ʜᴏᴜʀ ʟᴀᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜᴀɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴀʟʟᴏᴛᴛᴇᴅ, ʏᴏᴜ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ʟᴏᴏᴋɪɴɢ ғᴏʀᴡᴀʀᴅ ᴛᴏ ʜᴀʀsʜ ᴘᴜɴɪsʜᴍᴇɴᴛ. ɪs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴄʟᴇᴀʀ, ᴅᴏᴄᴛᴏʀ Wʜɪᴛᴍᴏʀᴇ?”

 “Please, just use mister -- I don’t have a doctorate yet, I might be a genius, but not enough so to have that kind of degree yet! A-anyway… yes, I’ll get on with that right away, sir.” He tugs at his messy strawberry blond ponytail, his clear blue eyes full of nervousness.

 “Nᴏ ᴍᴀᴛᴛᴇʀ. Gᴇᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴡᴏʀᴋ. Jᴜsᴛ ʀᴇᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀ, ɴᴏ sʟᴀᴄᴋɪɴɢ ᴏғғ. Bɪɢ ʙʀᴏᴛʜᴇʀ Aᴜᴛᴀʀᴄʜ ɪs ᴀʟᴡᴀʏs ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜɪɴɢ.” All screens except one right by where Lee usually worked on his inventions turned off, with the AI silently watching.

 That phrase he always closed his little speeches with… it chilled Lee to the bone. With an apprehensive sigh, Lee rolled over to his work area in the chair and got ready to work. From eight circular holes cut in the back of his coat and shirt, eight arms like thick wires came out, each tipped with a “hand”, like a more articulate form of the claw from a claw machine. Each reached throughout the room, gingerly collecting a few basic supplies he needed without him having to actually get up. He could work faster with these.

 “…this is such a horrible idea, isn’t it…?”

 “MOST LIKELY.”

* * *

 I sat in the main office at the head of HEAT with a confident grin on my face. _**Watching over your little lab rats as usual, mm?**_ A phantom pain rang out in my left eye socket, causing me to wince slightly. _Stop that, you._ I thought, the corners of my smile twitching with a bit of irritation. **_No thank you._** I decide to ignore that thought, and look around the room.

  My office was lovely. It was dark, just how I liked it. One wall was entirely covered in screens with feeds from other rooms in the building and across Levis. Autarch’s watching eyes supplied this footage, as well as feeds from other AIs made for surveillance. The chair I sat in was cushioned, comfortable, with a tall back. People often told me it was fit for a movie villain. Excellent. Similarly to most things associated with the great ‘autarch’ of Levis, the walls in this room were black with a pulsating, red, circuit-like design.

 I was bored. Terribly, horrible bored. With the index finger of one hand, I toyed with some of my messy black bangs. Ah, mister Whitmore was working on that new body for Autarch, hm? That kid sure had a gift. He had helped me create Autarch in the first place. He was only fifteen at the time, too. Quite astounding, to say the least. If only he knew what a dreadful mistake he was making. Surely if there wasn’t Purity in the air, people would be rioting against Autarch and I, but there was, and practically everyone in the nation is wrapped tightly around my finger. And giving my precious AI companion a body? It would give both of us almost absolute power, surely. Given what I had planned for the future, that was a sure fact.

  “Autarch. Be sure to watch over mister Whitmore very closely.”

  “Wɪʟʟ ᴅᴏ, sɪʀ. Bɪɢ ʙʀᴏᴛʜᴇʀ Aᴜᴛᴀʀᴄʜ ɪs ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜɪɴɢ ʜɪᴍ ᴀʟᴡᴀʏs.”

  **_What a lovely idea from a lovely man._** With a quiet groan at the sarcastic comment, I thought, _Stop that. I don't need any of your lip._ Squeezing my only good eye shut, I held one hand over my eye patch. Every time that insufferable voice spoke, it made me experience horrible phantom pains from where I no longer had a left eye... _**And whose fault is that?** SHUT UP ALREADY._

* * *

 

 School today was boring. As usual! At least we finally got to know about the entirety of Levis, not just Lumnia.  
  
  First of all, Lumnia. Paradise itself, everyone in other districts see living here as a dream come true, a gift,practically a miracle. We're pampered and prim, as Pure as can be. The security is a bit strict, and so are the laws, but we get by easily despite that. The crime rate is incredibly low for such a highly populated place, really. Maybe we're all too focused on admiring the amazing technological feats surrounding us every day to break the law. Turns out, there's eight other districts. You just only ever hear about three others: Invidia, Superbia, and Avaritia. The other five are Ira, Gulae, Desidia, Libido, and Deploro.   
  
  Invidia is where the freaks go. People with freakish powers, supernatural abilities. Most are called kinetics, due to having a kind of kinesis. I heard rumors that our mom had gyrokinesis. Does that mean that freakishness runs in our blood? I hope not. We've been taught over and over again that not being Pure is a fate worse than death. Still... being a kinetic sounds cool. Superbia is where the mentally ill go. Where those with genetic disorders and diseases are left. One of the regions that HEAT accepts employees from, besides Lumnia and Avaritia. I once heard about this albino kid with a raven escape from there. He knew magic! Pretty neat. A dangerous test subject escaped with him, though... some Project Enoch thing. Hope no more of the Enoch things get loose... they sound dangerous. Avaritia is the only place more luxurious than Lumnia. Rich assholes live there. I hate them. I heard that Alistair Crane guy is one of them. I wouldn't be surprised. They barely ever contribute to society, and all they ever do is take up the highest rankings in the highest paying jobs. The greedy bastards...   
  
  Ira is new. A mostly uncivilized looking bunch with free reign over a wrecked slum kind of city that nobody bothers to fix up or repair. People with powers relative to animals, features like animals, or just animals in general have to stay here. I heard the authorities make them sleep in cages at night! They probably deserve it. They sound scary. Gulae is a nightmare, from what I've heard. Cannibals and gross meaty things have to stay there. Why would you even let cannibals and gross meaty things live in Levis at all?! They probably would try to escape and kill everyone! Libido is full of demons. Actual demons! It's the red light district of Levis, given that a large chunk of the population there is made up of Incubi, Succubi, and Vesels.   
  
  Incubi and Succubi are sex demons, known for banging your brains out and then promptly devouring your soul. Not all Succubi or Incubi are like that, though. That's just the lust kind.There's seven types; lust is the majority. Vesels don't do sex, or steal souls. They prefer snuggling and tender kisses, soft touches, and gentle murmurs. Their main source of food is emotion, specifically positive and generally happiness. All they have to do is make contact andsuck a little, such as a kiss on the forehead, a stroke of a back, a pat on the head. A Vesel that eats negative emotion becomes corrupt, becoming possessive of their loved one - - Vesels often pick only one partner - and suck out every lick of negativity from them so they force them to be happy. The more you stay with a corrupt Vesel, the more likely you are to become a demon, yourself.  
  
  Well then! I sure did get off track. The last two are Desidia and Deploro. Desidia is where the homeless and poor go, and Deploro is where mistakes, undead things, and things they shouldn't be alive go. It's a common thing to say that someone deserves to stay in Deploro as an insult if you're livid at someone.  
I sure learned a lot today, huh?


	3. Project Enoch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been long enough, hasn't it? 
> 
> If you haven't noticed, I've retconned this series to be a bit of an AU within the Willow Falls lore, given that it takes place in the same world as it, but characters are in different roles. A character anyone who has read Willow Falls would recognize makes an appearance in this chapter, for instance!

 "Miss Cassidy Ingram, was it?" A young boy in a uniform inquired. This was a member of a secret organization tucked away in the depths of Invidia, a group whose very existence breaks the law. He wore a basic uniform, a navy blue uniform stolen from a platoon of guards that just 'happened' to be found dead nearby and cleaned. Some of his veins bulged out from his skin like plant roots,running with what appeared to be greenish blood. A few leaves grew in his messy blond hair. He was a botanokinetic, but not naturally. This child was an experiment.

 "Ah, subject 025, correct? Joshua Beck. Our first successful artificial kinetic. What is it that you need?" The woman looked over her shoulder with interest. She had brownish black hair tied back into a bun, with milky brown eyes. A half of a pair of glasses extended to cover her left eye like some strange monocle. She had vitiligo, and thus her dark skin was paler in patches on her body, most notably her face, which was almost all lacking in pigmentation. Cassidy, too, wore that uniform, with a lab coat over it all.

 Joshua huffed, his green eyes looking to the side. "...do you need to use that introduction every time..? Anyways-"

 "Hey. Lady." A group of young kinetics barged into the room, exactly three in number. The tallest and oldest of which wasn't a subject, but had ended up tied into the place when he found himself there on a search for his own brother and gotten experimented on. He had fiery orange eyes and dark olive skin, and messy, curly black hair tied into a ponytail. That same uniform stayed on him well, despite the fact that he was a ghost. A pyrokinetic ghost. "Are you sure you still have no idea where Drake is?"

 Cassidy nodded as the other two filtered in. A lanky boy who was an android, having an artificial mass of reddish hair on his head styled into a half-assed undercut. A short, stout child, with wispy, whitish brown hair and amber eyes. "Never even heard of his name, for the fifth time, subject 320."

 "I'm not one of your science projects, lady." A faint Irish accent slipped into his voice as he became more irritated.

 "And I have a name." She retorted, glaring with her blank right eye narrowed. The black vapors of Cold Matter-form Dark Matter wafted from it like smoke.

 The boy's ponytail ignited, burning fiercely with his anger. "So do I, you half-breed old hag! Nicholas Mevel! Get it right!"

 "...let's... calm down." Joshua mused, patting Nicholas's shoulder. A few poppies bloom in his hair. He smiles nervously at the fire, patting the ghost boy's shoulder.

 The android furrowed his eyebrows, running a hand through his messy hair. He glances to the side, not sure what to say. A few random syllables trail out of his mouth as he shuffles his feet. "...so... what did you want, Joshua?"

 "I heard something about this Willow Falls place... something about one of the Enochs." He smiled a little, feeling good about himself. Joshua did something! He wasn't exactly involved, but he got to help Dr. Ingram with her search for a missing subject. Sunflowers replaced the poppies in his hair as he bounced in place.

 Cassidy looked up, a look of interest on her face. “...interesting. Where might this Willow Falls be?” She raised an eyebrow, one corner of her mouth twitching in an attempt to smile. Standing up, the woman snapped her fingers. “Huginn. Muninn. Come here.” At her word, a pair of twins came into the room, wearing the same uniform as all the others. They were ghostly pale, with narrow, amber eyes. Their noses were pointed, and their hands had the qualities of a bird’s talons. They both had feathery hair and a bird’s wings positioned on their back. Huginn’s hair and feathers were pure white, Muninn’s were black as night. With quiet churrs, they looked expectantly at the woman. “Go fly around, out of the walls of Levis. I’ve… heard about this place, actually. Look for a small town situated in the middle of a forest. When you find it, I expect exact coordinates.”

 “Yes, ma’am.” The twins both chirped at once, doing a quick, salute-like gesture. The two were both telepaths, and could also determine the exact coordinates of a place thanks to a bit of technology in their heads. They went over to a large window, jumping out with intertwined hands and spreading their wings, flying off. There were usually sonars around Ira and Invidia, set to shoot down anything trying to fly out of those districts, but the chips the pair had in their heads managed to render them invisible.

 While that was going on, Joshua and co. slipped out of the room, into another. “...okay. So. How are we going to get out of here..?” The plant boy murmured with a sleepy tone of voice. His skin was paler than it should be, and the flowers and leaves that grew in his hair were partially wilted. “I need sunlight. A-and water. I don’t wanna end up eating someone.”

 “Don’t worry, man. I won’t let you get all Venus flytrap on us.” A girl with blue-streaked hair assured him, smiling. “I’ll just splash you with water and someone else will feed you Miracle Gro.” She giggled, her bluish-gray eyes full of cheerfulness. Sitting on top of a table, the short girl swinged her legs back and forth. The other person who was already in the room was new- a tall girl with dusty brown hair and large, round goggles mounted on her forehead. Club-like antennae poked out from her hair, folded back by the thick band on her goggles. She smiled with somewhat sharp teeth, two mandibles poking out from the sides of her teeth, tucked in her cheeks. Large, long wings buzzed behind her back.

 The blue-streaked girl spoke again. “Before we plan out our escape, we should make sure we all know each other. Correct?” After getting a few nods, she stands her short self up upon the table, putting her small hands on her hips. “I, for one, am Marina Cresse. Resident hydrokinetic, I was a natural one.”

 Joshua sighed, scooting over to Marina and poking her. After getting some water extracted from the air by the female kinetic and splashed on him, he meekly thanked her and spoke up. “Joshua Beck. I-I’m a chlorokinetic! I’m also part plant… thank Ingram, I guess..?” He rubbed one of his cheeks in a tired kind of way, letting the water soak into his skin. A content sunflower blooms in his hair.

 “Nicholas Mevel. I’m a pyrokinetic. I’ve been dead for a little over a century -- don’t let my accent fool you, I’m from Ireland.” The Irish phantom grins at the newcomer in the room, giving a small wave. Faint embers glimmer around him, given he was in a pretty good mood compared to a few moments before in the other room.

 “I am Otto McKinley, model 1216 in my line of androids… I have been altered by Doctor Cassidy Ingram, head of Project Enoch, in order to gain ferrokinetic properties.” The undercut-bearing android droned on for a moment with a metallic voice, unlike the one he had before, before switching back to a warm, human tone. “...sorry about that. My circuiting makes me act like a robot sometimes, whoops… not that I’m not a robot, but, you know.”

 The stout boy with wispy hair tugged on Otto’s sleeve, pointing to his open mouth, in which no words were coming from. “Oh!” Otto smiled awkwardly, nodding down at the boy. “This is Flick Peterson, he is a mute osteokinetic. Osteokinesis is control over the structure of your bones in your….” His voice faded out and decreased in octaves as he slumped over, after an annoyed Marina pounded her fist on a button on his back. Looks like someone has a flaw in his design, given that a large, easy to hit button on a vulnerable spot deactivates him.

 Standing up, the new girl blinked her dark brown eyes a few times, her antennae twitching a few times. Taking a few breaths, she grins and introduces herself. “My name is… Tetra Myrm. I have no special kinetics about me, I’m just an antlion-human hybrid from the Ira district. They haven’t done anything to me yet.”

  Marina gave a surprised look to Tetra, raising her eyebrows. "You're still untouched? That's rare, here. So you hail from Ira? What's it like? I heard they eat each other alive, hunt in packs... heheh." A childish giggle escapes from the girl's throat, a mischievous expression on her features. 

  Tetra appeared to be somewhat offended. "...excuse me. That's awfully rude of you. No, we're civilized, if you'll believe that. Cannibals get shipped off to Gulae to live with the real freaks." Her wings buzzed in place, and she crossed her uniform-clad arms across her chest.

  "Can we just get on with our little plot we have going? If we let you go on bickering like a bunch of feuding birds, we'll never get to leave this hellhole." Nicholas cut in, turning a chair backwards and settling down in it, resting folded arms on the top of its back. He leans his chin on his arms. 

  Joshua nods with Nicholas, stepping between the two girls before the discussion could become a debate. "Weren't we going to try to see if that tunnel entrance in the bottom floor went anywhere? I think... Otto? Yeah, didn't Otto find it after managing to hack the cameras?" He looks over at the android with a questioning look.

  Otto grins. "Yep, that was all me! I got some intel on that recently after looking into some files... I believe that tunnel connects to at least one, two other districts. It used to function as a way to smuggle people between the different sectors;  recently it got discovered and shut down after HEAT took over. Those fascist assholes decided to make travel between districts like some kind of clique. If you don't qualify to be in Lumnia, you can't freely pass between districts without paying some kind of price, anymore." 

  "We didn't ask for a lecture on that slice of history, but thanks for the info nonetheless." Marina quips, continuing to water Joshua.

  "Let me continue, will you?" The ferrokinetic frowns, then continues to drawl on. " The tunnel entrance is guarded by two people, not very good guards, at that.  A cryo and a pyro. Nick can take out the cryo, Mari can take out the pyro. Is that alright?" 

  Nicholas smirks, lifting his head a little. "I can deal with both, even! Fire with fire. If I stay intangible, those two'd never be able to land a hit on me." 

  "Yeah, but what if they happen to be a little salty, mm? Salt hurts ghosts, doesn't it?" Josh snickers, grinning at his pun as a couple others groan.

  "...anyway. After we take out those guards, we should be fine. Those folks up in HEAT assume nobody'd be able to bypass the security at the doors, so as far as I know, there's nobody patrolling those tunnels. Not even cameras watching the place." 

  Tetra frowns, feeling confused by everything going on. "...what part do I have in this? What part does everyone that's... not you five, have in this?" 

  "We're planning on busting out everyone! Just not all at once." Marina replies, holding her hands spaced out in front of her as a gesture to accompany 'everyone'. 

  Nicholas glances at the door, unnerved by footsteps. "...shit, what if that's Wyatt coming..? Not everyone is gonna be up for rebelling against Ingram like this." 

  "Are you kidding? Wyatt hates her as much as we do, he just also hates us." Otto reassures him, signing some things back and forth with Flick. 

  The footsteps got closer, making a couple others on edge - Joshua and Flick, to be exact. Flick moved himself to be hiding partially behind Otto, and Joshua's sunflowers wilted, being replaced by small nightshade blooms.

  A pale, weak-looking boy hobbles into the room and shakily collapses into a seat, avoiding the questioning looks sent at him from the others. It was obvious the boy was albino, judging from his snow-white hair, almost translucent skin, and ice-blue eyes. He also looked completely defeated in stature, being abnormally thin for how tall he was, and afraid of everything around him. After realizing the room he had found solace in was filled with familiar faces, he calmed down and closed his eyes a little, resting them. He needed that rest, given that those same eyes were ringed by dark circles. The area over his left jugular vein had fresh bandages on it, like he had recently got some shots.

  "...mm? Who's this kid?" 

  Marina strode over to the pale teen, a sympathetic smile on her face as she put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "...did they experiment on you again?" He looked up at her wordlessly, shaking his head 'yes'. A tiny bead of a black liquid formed in a tear duct, rolling down a cheek like a sorrowful tear. "...oh, no, no, don't be upset, dear. It'll be okay." With how she was trying to comfort him, it was almost like she was a mother. 

  "That piece of work is subject 001, the 'patient zero' of this place. Poor kid is a guinea pig for any kind of Enoch-related testing. As far as we know that monster Ingram replaced all his body fluids with liquid Dark Matter. Nasty, corrosive stuff. Surprised he hasn't dissolved inside out." 

  "Nicholas, is it really necessary to describe all that without being asked to? It's... not." Otto retorted, side-eyeing the pyrokinetic.

  Tetra repeated herself. "Who is he?" 

  The hydrokinetic girl looked up, over at the others and then at Tetra. "His name is Edward Allens."

  "We call him Poe."


	4. School Days

 "Adonis Megalos."

 My hand shoots into the air as I bark out a single word. "Here!" The teacher, a gaunt, raven-haired man, continued to go through the list of students one by one in a monotonous drawl. Mr. Samuel Morose is his name. The old coot's my history teacher. I swear he's got a Purity dispenser lodged in his brain, he's so boring. At least the class is interesting. I like learning about the other districts. It's difficult pretending to be as dull and brainwashed as all the other students are, though.

 I tug awkwardly on the collar of my tie dye tee shirt and look around the class. Yes, hold your applause at my WONDERFUL fashion sense. I'm also wearing khakis, bite me.

 Mr. Morose plucks a hunk of white chalk from the metal thing on the bottom of the chalkboard, holding it firmly in his right hand. I've noticed that people affected by Purity are almost never left-handed. Ambidextrous is completely out of the question. He writes on the board with almost perfect, kind of shaky lettering: Kinesis. Isn't that what gets you slammed in Invidia? Oh well. I'm glad we get to learn something about that today. Something new.

 "Class, today we will be discussing Kinesis. What do you already know about this?"

 A tall boy that sits next to me raises his hand. He's a friend of mine, that Gallagher Jones. We call him Galaga. Like the really old games. He has a scarlet faux hawk styled in his hair, cold green eyes, and often wears mostly the same thing. Threadbare turtlenecks, worn jeans, a beige longcoat, and a white scarf, on occasion. He's pretty buff, athletically built, been trying out to deal with javelins and do wrestling.

 "Yes, Gallagher?"

 "It's a general term for supernatural powers people can be born with, and you have to live in Invidia if you're found out to have one. Some Kinetics include pyrokinesis, teleki-"

 The teacher cuts him off, narrowing his eyes some behind rounded glasses. "That's enough. You must have read ahead. I applaud you for being devoted to your class, but you shouldn't go ahead of the class like that."

 "Sorry, Mr. Morose...." Galaga shrinks down in his seat, tugging at the collar of his shirt with an ashamed look on his face.

 After that, the class went on as usual. Who knew you could learn so much in about an hour? He didn't even give us homework yet.

 So Galaga was right, Kinetics do come in different types, and are a general term. They're a genetic thing, passing down in your genes. A normal couple could give birth to a Kinetic through recessive traits. There's hundreds of different types, and they sound so cool! One type, called mystokinesis, is where you're born with Mana. It's magic! People with mystokinesis are called Magi.

 Normal Kinetics can't have kids with normal people. If they do, the Kinetic dies when their firstborn is born, and the kid inherits the power. You won't know if it actually passed on or not until puberty his, though; Kinesis doesn't 'manifest' until puberty. People who manifest earlier then are rare and more powerful. People who manifest later are even rarer and stronger!

 I then realize that I am monologuing to myself in my thoughts as the bell for the next class rings. Good thing I'm already in my seat, or I'd be late. Today my second class is gardening. The teacher is really nice, and, including Galaga, I have three friends here. Sweet, right?

 ...wait, where's Galaga? He's never late.

 Oh well. Sometimes he has conferences in the counselor's office during this hour. Anyway, the teacher is the nicest woman around. She's not boring like most of the teachers and students here. She has long blonde hair that goes to her waist, and often has it braided. Usually she's in some kind of floral-patterned sun dress, with long gloves on her hands. Gloves are never not on her hands. Maybe she's insecure? Her name is Mrs. Astrid Beck.

 "Alright, is everyone here? -oh dear, where is our lovely Gallagher?" Mrs. Beck frowns, looking at his empty seat. "I wasn't told he had a session today. Have you seen him, Lancelot?"

 A pale boy with pinkish blue eyes and swept back white hair jolted a bit, taken by surprise by being called on. Today he had a dress shirt and jeans on. What a dork. That's Lancelot Garrett. We call him Lance. His albinism means he has to get a cab from Superbia to come here every day. Only reason they let him go here is because he's excelling in the law classes - he's training to be a cop and hoping to be one of the best investigators around.

 "Erm, no, actually. Adonis has his first class with him, ask him!"

 Mrs. Beck turns to me. "Adonis?"

 "He was in History today, yeah. No idea where he is, now."

 "...oh well. Let's get on with class, then. We'll be going over the biology of flowers in the rose family, then raise some. Maybe I'll let you take them home if you do well." She lightly claps, looking around at the present students. "Pick your partners for the day, and we'll get to our lesson."

 Why was, a wrestler, a rookie cop, and I in a gardening class, you might ask? Who are you to question us? Plants are cool.

 "Hey, Adonis. Are you up for being my partner today?" A girl's expressionless voice snapped me out of my train of thought. Ah yeah, the other friend of mine. Rhea Natius. She's a Purity zombie, but she's alright to talk to and work with. She has long red hair and blue eyes, and some freckles. I heard they're herding her into some kind of business job. Boring! Something about her wasn't as boring as most Purity drones, though. Huh.

 "Alright. Let's get to work - after Mrs. Beck is done, obviously."

 That class went pretty slow. Ah well. Rhea and I got through our work fast and planted our roses in time. Next is Math, and then lunch!

 Nothing important happens in math, though. It's just our boring teacher, Mr. Matthew Algernon, boredly going over algorithms and equations as we all consider using those thick textbooks to bash our own heads in. He's a weird guy, though. Kind of curvy in body shape, with wide hips, and always dressed like a stereotypical nerd, thick glasses and all. His hair was a brown buzz kind of cut.

 I'm not gonna bother boring you with math, so lunch it is. I sit at a table with a handful of friends, including my own sister. There's also Galaga, Lance, and a couple others. "Where were you in gardening, Gal?" Lance raises the question we've both been thinking over for the past couple of hours.

 He awkwardly stabs into a cup of that microwave kind of macaroni, the just add water kind of stuff. After swallowing a mouthful, he looks around and lowers his voice. "...Alex and I are... moving away, soon." His tone is grim. Lancelot and I know exactly what he means. That's a euphemism we not boring kids use for 'we have to leave the district'.

 Ah, right. Alex. Her full name is Alexandria Jones, she's a younger girl with bright orange hair and bright eyes. Good kid. Too bad we won't be seeing much of her anymore.

 "...aww. I'll miss you guys. Especially Alex, honestly." Ib sighs halfheartedly at my side, taking a saddened bite out of a peach. I don't get why she can stand those. They're... fuzzy. Fruit doesn't need fuzz.

 The bell rings after a silent, solemn lunch between all of us. All I really ate was a sandwich with cold cuts. It was alright.

 Just three classes to go. English, Science, Art. My English teacher scares me sometimes.

 As I stepped into the classroom, I'm immediately greeted by a late pass getting shoved in my face and annoyed Welsh muttering. Crap. I'm late. I shove the paper into my pocket and move to my desk, sitting down.

 The teacher here is Mr. Aeron Curtis. Scary guy. Six foot six with black hair pulled into a thin ponytail, with a bit of a goatee to boot. Despite being only in his mid thirties, he looked very old, with noticeable bags under cold blue eyes. The guy had a thing for Welsh profanity, violet shirts, and dark pants, and he had some kind of scar running down the left side of his face.

 "What I was GOING to say before a certain Megalos interrupted us by being late, was that you're going to be having a grammar test today. No talking, no even LOOKING at anyone else until everyone is done. Got it, class?" Without another word, he passes out packets to every student.

 Hoo boy.

 Yeah, that's it on that class. I hate it, honestly. I get out as soon as possible when the bell rings, hightailing it to Science. Another hour, another honestly terrifying teacher. Mrs. - No, Dr. - Gladys Tradere.

 Straight, short black hair, pale eyes behind thin glasses, one of those white coats, she's pretty creepy. Her left leg is a robotic prosthetic, as is her right forearm. People crack jokes about a certain short blond magic guy behind her back. She even has a weird scar circling her left wrist, one that's stitched closed. Wonder how she got that.

 "Today we'll be going over notes in your textbooks. Pages 347 through 350. If you all cooperate, we might do a dissection later this week. For a grade, of course. Whether you like it or not." Dr. Tradere writes the objective on the board as she talks, her voice backed by a cacophony of turning pages.

 The notes are nothing much. It's currently just human anatomy and body systems. It even goes over how Kinetic and Magi bodies work in a couple of sections. Might as well be educated on the freaks of Levis. I mean, besides the Gulae and Ira things.

 Art isn't even noteworthy, besides how haggard our teacher is. Mrs. Dolores Priest, a gross old woman with scraggly hair and a wart on her upper lip the size of a pea.

 Ib and I meet up in front of the school and get on the bus. The ride is a leisurely twenty minutes, pretty comfortable with windows open and seats in the back. After those twenty minutes end, we get off the bus. Ib has the key, because she's more organized. She unlocks the door, and we go in and drop our stuff off in our room. Then we realize. Something wasn't right when we came in.

 We leave our rooms and freeze up, staring.

 Why is Alistair Crane in our living room?


End file.
